Intel
has been offering its Atom line of processors for a while now. The
CPUs are not known for raw performance, but they are cheap and offer
reasonable battery life with netbook computers. Intel has announced a
new generation Atom processor line today.

The new
Atom platform requires significantly less power than
previous generations of Atom processors and will let Intel enter into
the smartphones and tablet PC market. These two product categories
are where Intel has traditionally not been competitive because of the
higher power needs of its platform. The new processors were formerly
codenamed Moorestown.

“Intel
has delivered its first product that is opening the door for Intel
Architecture [IA] in the smartphone market segment," said Anand
Chandrasekher, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the
Ultra Mobility Group. "Through Moorestown,
Intel is scaling the benefits of IA while significantly reducing the
power, cost and footprint to better address handheld market segments.
As a result of our efforts, the Intel Atom processor is pushing the
boundaries of higher performance at significantly lower power to show
what's possible as handheld devices become small, powerful mobile
computers."

Along with the Moorestown
parts aimed at smartphones and tablet, Intel is also showing off a
new Atom Z6xx series of processors that were formerly known as the
Lincroft
SoC along with a new Intel Platform Controller Hub MP20 formerly
known as Langwell.
A new dedicated Mixed Signal IC is also being unveiled formerly known
as Briertown.
Intel now included the Atom Z6xx in the platform and the processor is
built on the 45nm process and has 3D graphics, video encode, and
video decode support along with memory and display controllers on a
single SoC design.

Collectively, Intel claims that the new
chips are able to deliver a 50 times reduction in idle power, 20
times reduction in audio power, and a 20 times reduction in power
needs across browsing and video use. The power savings promises to
let a mobile device last over ten days on standby, up to two days of
audio playback, and four to five hours of web browsing and video
playback per charge.

The
platform also promises significantly higher performance and support
for 1080p and 720p HD video. The Atom Z6xx family and Intel Platform
Controller Hub MP20 are available today.

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It's because Moorestown uses the Intel 45nm SoC process. SoC process supports wider variety of transistors for SoC functions and also has much lower leakage. On 45nm Intel said SoC process was 6 months behind. The first 45nm SoC chip from Intel was Sodaville, which was late last year.